Jennifer relaxed and made herself another cup of tea, pushing down the yearning she could feel beginning to rise. She’d wanted a life like this. A family of her own. She should have had one by now and if things had gone to plan, the children she and Art had been planning to have should have been around seven years old by now. Jennifer shook her head. Her life would have been very different.
‘But you wouldn’t have been head of unit at such a young age—if you could call thirty-eight young,’ she whispered softly to herself. Still, the words didn’t seem to matter much when faced with what her alternative life would have been like.
By half past seven, the girls were freshly washed and dressed ready for the day ahead. Jasper had called Mr Attenburgh to make sure it was all right to come down and then announced to both girls they were going for a little walk.
‘Is it all right to go this early?’ Jennifer checked as the girls went to get their coats as it was definitely a chilly July morning.
‘Oh, Mr Attenburgh goes for a walk at a quarter to six every morning. He’s awake, alive, alert and enthusiastic.’
‘Good to hear.’
‘Lilly? Are you staying here with Grandma?’ he asked when she didn’t come back with her coat. ‘You don’t have to come, honey.’
‘I’ll stay and look after Grandma.’ Lilly was already on the stairs. ‘Lola will look after you and Jen, Daddy.’
‘Good to see they’re already looking out for their dad,’ Jennifer remarked as the three of them headed outside into the crisp morning, tucking her scarf more firmly into the top of her coat.
‘Lilly is the nurturer. Lola is the adventurer,’ he said as Lola positioned herself between the two of them, slipping her hands into theirs and then asking for a swing.
‘I love swings. Lilly doesn’t,’ Lola added. ‘But I do. A lot.’
‘What does she mean?’ Jennifer asked.
‘We count to three and then we lift her forward and up into the air.’ Jasper counted and after three, up went Lola, giggling with glee. Again and again they did this with the child laughing each time.
‘She doesn’t get tired of it?’
‘Nope. Do it to Lilly and she snaps your head off. Doesn’t like the sensation that she’s flying through the sky, our Lil.’
‘Have you ever got them confused?’ Jennifer was still trying to search for a way she might be able to tell them apart.
‘Nope. Believe it or not, they look completely different to me.’
‘Perhaps because you see them more as personalities rather than focusing on the physical appearance.’
‘Hmm. I’d never thought of it like that before. You’re probably right.’
They continued to swing Lola, who was laughing brightly in the crisp morning, providing her own brand of sweet sunshine. It was enough to warm Jennifer’s heart and as she glanced over at Jasper the yearning deep inside her to have this sort of life for her own, to have a husband and family of her own, was almost overwhelming.
CHAPTER FIVE
THEY gave Lola one last swing as they came to the house in question. Jennifer stopped and looked at the outside. It was a brick house, with a bay window at the front. She’d always loved bay windows and the house she’d bought with Art all those years ago had had three bay windows across the front.
‘Jennifer?’ Jasper called when she stopped stock still. Lola was busy trying to tug him down the driveway but Jasper had seen a strange look come into Jennifer’s eyes. ‘Do you like it?’ he asked. Jennifer didn’t answer. Instead, she simply stood there and he realised she was miles away. What was she thinking of? Her expression was one of wistful yearning and in that moment he knew she was probably thinking of her past. He knew that look because he’d worn it several times himself.
‘Jennifer?’ he tried again, and was successful in rousing her.
‘Hmm? Sorry.’ She snapped out of her reverie and turned to look at him.
‘Do you like it?’
Jennifer sighed and nodded. ‘I do. The front garden’s small but I’m not looking for a big garden.’ The arrangement of native trees and shrubs with their evergreen leaves made the small area look lush and inviting.
‘The back yard is big enough to have a few friends around but small enough that it doesn’t need a lot of upkeep.’ He pointed with his free hand, Lola still tugging on the other one. ‘Shall we go and see Mr Attenburgh before Lola does some real damage to my arm?’
She nodded. ‘Good idea. I’m too tired to reset a dislocated humerus.’
Jennifer discovered the inside of the two-bedroomed house was as quaint and as lovely as the outside, and the bay window already had a window-seat just waiting for her to curl up and relax after a hard day at the hospital. The house was empty, all the furniture having been shifted as Mr Attenburgh already had his new residence.